We probably all have them. Writers, singers, actors, directors, etc. who are close to our hearts but who are not universally beloved. Sometimes actively disliked, in fact. We like them anyway and maybe even become more loyal in the face of opposition.

Here is a starter: k.d. lang. She is back in the news a bit with her knockout performance of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" at the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I have been a fan for 20 years or more, starting with her recording of torch songs with the Nelson Riddle orchestra. Old songs, huge voice. Back then she was a tiny, cute little thing and it was quite amazing to hear that voice come out of her. As time has passed and she has come out of the closet all the way about being a lesbian, instead of just hinting at it (memorable magazine cover of her shaving a famous blonde in a barber chair with a straight edged razor), she has let her body go. She is as big as a house now and wanders the stage barefoot as her voice blows the roof off. Her voice is a gift and none of the rest of it impairs the voice.

That song has been covered before, probably most memorably by Jeff Buckley. k.d. set the bar a little higher, that's all.

Google k.d. lang hallelujah if you doubt me....

This thread is probably inspired by an oral biography of Robert Altman I have been reading on the train all week. A really good book even if you don't happen to be a movie buff. I am through the first third of it -- traditionally the slog part of any biography -- and it is riveting. I really like the oral biography form. For some reason it is more entertaining and brings the subject more into focus than traditional biographies tend to. At this point Altman has grown up in Kansas City, been a fighter pilot, made some documentaries, married for the third time (the second one jumps out of every paragraph she is in), and made some documentaries and TV episodes. He has inherited his father's gambling nature and is perpetually in debt. He stands up for his principles and refuses to be controlled, even when he is penniless. Everything around him is entertaining. As his (ex?) brother in law puts it, Bob is the flame who attracts moths. Always a party even when there wasn't money to pay for it. Wild schemes, terrific energy and imagination. But he still hadn't quite broken through.

As the train rolled into the station in Grayslake this afternoon I finished Act I of the book. Last sentence: "I'm going to send you a script I think you should read." Which turns out to be "M*A*S*H" The story of the rise to fame is one that never grows old. For the rest of his life Robert Altman would be a public figure, beloved by apparently every actor who ever worked with him and still undoubtedly the bane of the studios and some fans who like their plots linear. He was an original and this is a wildly entertaining book.